July 2018 – New And Open Principal Report

43 responses to “July 2018 – New And Open Principal Report”

1. Concerned Parent | July 10, 2018 at 11:13 AM |

   Why would a principal be “reassigned”? Is it the “lemon dance” where employees are not fired, simply moved around?
2. River Harper | July 10, 2018 at 11:32 AM |

   I think there should be one more of those principal vacancies at the top. Maybe Principal Skinner would be good.
3. DSW2Contributor | July 10, 2018 at 11:49 AM |

   Stan, after the school year starts, please come back to this topic and check the “EARNED Allotment” schools against actual enrollment data.
4. DSW2Contributor | July 10, 2018 at 11:54 AM |

   “Concerned Parent”, there are several good reasons why a principal might be “reassigned”. One excellent reason is that their skill set is exactly what is needed to change the culture of the school they are being moved to.
5. cap22 | July 10, 2018 at 12:56 PM |

   Char-Shenda Covington (Fulton Leadership Academy) and Nicolle Bullen (Atlanta Heights Charter) both come from low performing charter schools that the state are threatening to shut down if test scores do not approve, but they are good enough to be DeKalb County Principals.
6. DSW2Contributor | July 10, 2018 at 3:03 PM |

   Yes, Covington and Bullen are indeed good enough to be Principals in Region 3, one of DCSD’s lowest performing regions.
7. AB | July 10, 2018 at 5:11 PM |

   And anyone notice that all but 6 principal hires come from within DeKalb (and apparently folks have already discovered 2 of those 6 aren’t looking so stellar) and only 2 AP hires come from outside DeKalb? DeKalb can’t attract highly qualified administrators and have not done a great job training staff within to become good administrators either (based on reassignments, etc). Will be interesting to see who they come up with for COO too after a national search.
8. Advocate4Education | July 10, 2018 at 6:29 PM |

   Yet there are still some schools that have principals who need to be gone or reassigned! Here’s hoping for a decent school year for all!
9. Kind_educator | July 10, 2018 at 6:34 PM |

   Cheryl Rhodes (Retirement) was never a Principal at the International Student Center. The position was open after Dr. Terry Segovis was “fired” at the end of the 2016-17 school year. Last year the school was run by two different interim principals.
10. Joe | July 10, 2018 at 7:31 PM |

    Thank you Stan.
11. AB | July 10, 2018 at 10:20 PM |

    The AP list is not complete. Looks like Tucker HS is getting 3 new APs – what’s up? There are 2 on the list above but also sending Foster to HMS and getting an AP from HMS.
12. WhyDCSD | July 11, 2018 at 1:07 AM |

    Mr. Jester,
    Can specifics be provided on the reassigned principals or at least what reassigned means? Demotion maybe?
13. Tongue in cheek | July 11, 2018 at 7:28 AM |

    Not only was the International Student Center run by two principals last year, the county spends over 5 million dollars a year in a school with only 170 7th and 8th grade students. In addition its Student to teacher ratio is about 4. Its way over staffed.
14. Paula Caldarella | July 11, 2018 at 7:29 AM |

    I caught the end of the HR report discussion during Monday’s BOE meeting and, if I heard correctly, learned about a policy that I had no idea existed. Apparently, if someone from another district is hired by DCSD, that individual loses 9 years of service? That’s insane. Stan did I hear that correctly? If so, this could be the reason DCSD has such a problem hiring people from outside of DCSD. The HR director, Dr. Green and the BOE seemed to be in agreement that this policy needs to go.
15. joy | July 11, 2018 at 9:12 AM |

    Mr. Jester,
    When I looked at the BOE Agenda, the HR report did not contain any names. Is the format for the report being changed again?
    It looks like DeKalb does not only have principal openings but also many of other job openings.
    “These school system have the most openings ‘
    . This is an article from today’s AJC
    According to the news, DeKalb has over 400 job openings.
    https://www.ajc.com/business/employment/these-metro-atlanta-school-districts-have-the-most-job-openings/o8aAgPBtLaaXjA8WZqrd8L/
16. big joe | July 11, 2018 at 9:16 AM |

    Stan where is the teacher salary pay scale for 2018-2019? All of the other surrounding systems teacher salary scales are posted.
17. cap22 | July 11, 2018 at 11:55 AM |

    Based off the new maps some of the regions are wrong. Cedar Grove High is in Region 7.
18. DSW2Contributor | July 11, 2018 at 12:03 PM |

    Paula, I didn’t watch the BOE meeting, but it sounds like they were talking about DCSD’s frozen step increases. To learn more about that problem, read the comments under Stan’s December 13, 2016 blog “Dekalb – The Worst Paid Teachers Around” :
    http://factchecker.stanjester.com/2016/12/6920/
    Scuttlebutt says that if a teacher or principal make a lateral move from APS to DCSD, they lose the step increases that DCSD froze while they were at APS. (Or, vice-versa, if you were to move from DCSD to any other Georgia school district, you get credited for all the steps you should have earned at DCSD but didn’t because DCSD froze them.)
    Look at the T-5 pay chart Stan posted in his “Dekalb – The Worst Paid Teachers Around” blog. IGNORE the “Diff” column that Stan calculated — that is NOT the actual difference between school districts. I’ll show you how it actually works with this hypothetical example: A Dekalb teacher has 22 years of experience, during which there were 7 years that the step increases were frozen. DCSD credits her with 22-7= 15 steps, so that teacher is paid $58,137/year at DCSD. (The teacher has 22 years of teaching experience, but DCSD only pays her as if she has 15 years of experience.)
    In the spring, the teacher decides not to sign her contract with DCSD and begins applying to other school districts. APS hires her. At APS, the teacher is credited for every year she has taught, so she is at step 23 on the APS payscale and APS will pay her $71,253 when she starts working there in August.
    If the teacher had signed her DCSD contract and stayed, she would have been at step 16 (23-7=15 years) and DCSD would have paid her $59,744. The difference in salaries between APS and DCSD is $11,509, which is almost 5 times more than the $2387 Stan’s table shows.
19. Paula Caldarella | July 11, 2018 at 12:08 PM |

    Thanks, that makes sense to me now – I did hear the phrase “step” thrown around. It’s a bad, bad policy. It should end.
20. kind.educator | July 11, 2018 at 12:13 PM |

    @Tongue in cheek,
    Your information regarding the International Student Center is wrong. Last year there were 298 LAB students (7th and 8th graders). Also, by the October FTE count, there were over 400 students being served in the Intensive English program (3rd to 9th grade). The numbers in January 2017 were over 480 in Intensive English and over 360 in the LAB program. Trust me, no way there is a 4:1 student ratio. Some classes finished the year with over 25 ESOL newcomers.
    BTW, the FY2019 budget only allocates for the International Center $11k for supplies and $900 for “purchase of equipment”. Lets take McNair MS, which serves 600 students. They are budgeted to receive $33k for supplies and $5k for equipment. Or Rockbridge ES, who serves 350 students, and will receive $23k for supplies and $3k for equipment.
    Go visit the school and see what is done every day without many resources, a PTA, or too much support from the county.
21. dekalbteacher | July 11, 2018 at 12:44 PM |

    I’d guess that nearly all Dekalb schools are now being lead by inexperienced principals. Factor in the number of new assistant principals and the school leadership teams forming only now, and anyone want to guess how your child’s school year will turn out?
    Dekalb doesn’t prioritize its teacher pay, but it does make sure to compensate its administrators nicely so you won’t see many unfilled administrator positions. The more likely reason for so many administrators from within and from APS is because it’s easier. You’ll meet at least a few administrators in each school who are connected. That may not always be bad. However, it does limit diversity of ideas. Also makes it much harder for someone “given” the job through connections to raise issues, doesn’t it?
    In the case of the rare administrator who didn’t get the job through a connection, the principal evaluates the assistant principal. How often do you think a principal gets constructive feedback when there are problems carrying out initiatives of the principal or assistant principal?
    I’d like to know what the new head of HR has done differently. Looks like a continuation of old Dekalb HR practices to me.
22. Tongue in cheek | July 11, 2018 at 1:31 PM |

    Kind educator
    Go look at the submitted budget for each school for 2018-2019. The amount budgeted for international school was over 5 million dollars. I’m not talking about money for pencils, but rather how much to em the school. Salaries, buses, and everything required to run the school. I think your numbers are also off for the lab enrollment. There were less than 100 7th grade students.
23. Curious | July 11, 2018 at 1:34 PM |

    When talking about teacher salary schedules, please keep in mind that DCSD hasn’t given teachers a step increase since 2008 (I believe–it’s really hard to tell). The salary schedule for teachers had only 23 steps in 2009-2010. The latest salary schedule for 2017-2018 has 33 steps. Now you may be thinking this is good, but what the county has done every year is to simply add steps to the bottom of the pay scale so that when a teacher “moves up a step” they are actually receiving the same pay from the previous year. Of course DCSD has given teachers percentage pay raises so teachers are receiving a raise, but given that teachers can retire after 30 years, they may never reach the top of the scale.
    Here is an example:
    According to the 2014-2015 salary schedule, a teacher with a bachelor’s degree with 0 years of experience was paid $41,262.13 and with 1, 2, or 3 years of experience was paid $42,262.13. In 2015-2016 a teacher with a bachelor’s degree with 0 or 1 year of experience was paid $42,499.99 and with 2, 3, or 4 years of experience was paid $43,529.99. In 2016-2017 a teacher with a bachelor’s degree with 0, 1 or 2 years of experience was paid $45,546.82 and with 3, 4, or 5 years of experience was paid $46,650.66. In 2017-2018 a teacher with a bachelor’s degree with 0, 1, 2, or 3 years of experience was paid $46,571.62 and with 4, 5, or 6 years of experience was paid $47,700.30.
    The teachers that started with 0 years of experience in 2014 are still on the same pay “step” as when they started. The same is true for the teachers that had 1 year of experience in 2014.
    Every year teachers are moving up a step on the pay scale, but by adding steps each year, DCSD is keeping the teachers on the same step that they were on the previous year. DCSD needs to stop adding steps to the pay scale and allow teachers to truly move up a step on the scale. Other counties have fewer steps, and when teachers go to other counties, if they are getting full credit for their experience, they could be better off.
24. Stan Jester | July 11, 2018 at 9:26 PM |

    Reassigned – Personnel assignments are HR issues that I’m not privy to. I’m amazed by some assignments and not so amazed by others.
    Years Of Credit – I don’t believe there is a specific policy regarding how many years of service a teacher or principal gets credit for and where on the salary schedule they fit in. There has been a lot of concern about teachers losing credit and/or falling behind other metro Atlanta areas on the salary schedule. I’ve asked the administration to explain this conundrum a few times and have received a different answer each time. I shall endeavor to inquire again.
    FY ’19 Salary Schedule – I asked for that to be posted a couple weeks ago and was told on Monday it’s up. I don’t see it anywhere and don’t recall receiving it. I could have received it in one of the data dumps they give us. I’ll dig around to see what I can find.
25. AB | July 11, 2018 at 9:57 PM |

    Here’s the link on the DCSD web site. As you can see, they haven’t posted it on their salary schedule page. It may be “somewhere” but it’s not on their own designated page: http://www.dekalbschoolsga.org/careers/
26. AB | July 12, 2018 at 9:42 AM |

    Stan,
    According to GPB today (http://gpbnews.org/post/dekalb-county-schools-seek-hundreds-teachers-during-statewide-shortage), DCSD is hosting a mini job fair at House of Hope Baptist Church to fill hundreds of teacher vacancies. If graduations can’t be at a place of worship, why is the district holding a teacher recruitment event at a place of worship?
27. Stan Jester | July 12, 2018 at 9:48 AM |

    The school district was challenged by the AFL-CIO on the holding of school district graduation ceremonies in religious facilities. I guess they didn’t complain about mini job fairs.
28. This and That | July 12, 2018 at 10:15 AM |

    Hi Stan! This is OT but will DeKalb Schools be having a beginning of the year convocation (pep rally) this school year? Last year at Infinite Energy Center (Duluth) was interesting. Thanks!
29. Stan Jester | July 12, 2018 at 10:56 AM |

    Usually stuff like that is a multi year contract, but I have not heard about any planning for the convocation. And I don’t see it in the detailed budget…
    FY2019 DCSD BUDGET (Detail)
    Pg 417: $350K for graduation ceremonies
    Pg 36: $61K for rebranding campaign – “I Love DeKalb Schools”
30. big joe | July 12, 2018 at 12:54 PM |

    need that FY 19 teacher salary schedule
31. AB | July 12, 2018 at 4:46 PM |

    So just because it isn’t challenged by the AFL-CIO, makes it ok? We march along using churches for other DCSD activities until challenged (recruiting, choral performance evals, etc)? If we are recruiting, a church setting might be a turn off for a significant portion of the population. It may send an unintentional/intentional message about the district. Something for the district to consider – that whole separation of church and state thing.
32. AB | July 12, 2018 at 4:48 PM |

    So just because it isn’t challenged by the AFL-CIO, makes it ok? We march along using churches for other DCSD activities until challenged (recruiting, choral performance evals, etc)? If we are recruiting, a church setting might be a turn off for a significant portion of the population. It may send an unintentional/intentional message about the district. Something for the district to consider – that whole separation of church and state thing.
    RE: the budget – we are still spending money for rebranding in 2019? Are there any reviews to determine if the rebranding has had any ROI?
33. Stan Jester | July 12, 2018 at 5:13 PM |

    The whole separation of church and state thing … The AFL-CIO complaint was never adjudicated. I’m not sure if holding school functions at church has ever been adjudicated in Georgia. The AFL-CIO complaint was just the straw that broke that camels back as far as I can tell. A number of high schools across the county struggled to put on graduation every year. This was a way to help them and treat everyone equitably.
34. joy | July 12, 2018 at 7:11 PM |

    Mr Jester,
    I appreciate you working on keeping us informed. I looked at the numbers for Principals and AP Openings. It looks like there will be 27 new principals . That seems like a lot. Also, the Dunwoody HS, Druid Hills HS, Chamblee , Towers and Tucker Principals have been principals for only one year. There was a time that to supervise a principal you had to have been a principal. I know that is no longer the case. DeKalb seems to have more principal openings than any other system. What is in place to support and help our principals.
35. Concerned Ed U. Cater | July 14, 2018 at 9:17 PM |

    I did not see where Shadow Rock Center was assigned a principal or assistant. The previous principal left in October 2017 and has not been replaced. Can you check on that?
36. Stan Jester | July 14, 2018 at 9:18 PM |

    Call shadow rock during normal business hours and ask them.
37. Advocate4Education | July 15, 2018 at 2:48 PM |

    This is just way too much! It’s time to look at the surrounding districts for new positions and apply. DeKalb has so many things wrong with it and it just seems as if it’s not getting better or even attempting to change the direction of the ship. It is still the “Good Ole Boys” system in place and that’s a crying shame. From leadership roles, appropriation of budget, to teacher pay scales and so much more, the system needs to be fixed and I’m not sure that the Superintendent/CEO, whatever he is calling himself has the initiative or vision to to make things happen. This district needs help and I want to be that change agent to do so along with many others, but it will be a huge challenge. I again just hope that everyone has a somewhat successful year no matter the level or scale of success. I pray for the future of our children and future generations when it comes to the state of our education system locally, county-wide, state, and federally.
38. DSW2Contributor | July 15, 2018 at 9:11 PM |

    “Concerned Ed U. Cater”, according to its staff directory:
    http://www.shadowrockct.dekalb.k12.ga.us/Staff.aspx
    the Shadow Rock Center only has 13 staff members total.
    There are only three teachers and only three paras working there — why do you think a Center that small should be staffed with a Principal and Assistant Principal? The Center already has a Campus Supervisor, GNETS Program Director, Coordinator II, and an Administrative Assistant already…plus a Nurse and Social Worker.
39. DSW2Contributor | July 16, 2018 at 11:27 AM |

    Scuttlebutt says most of the remaining vacancies will be filled this week, once Dr. Green finishes his interviews and makes his decisions. The “winning” candidates will then spent next week at the Summer leadership conference, then have the July 28/29 weekend to prepare before teachers return on Monday, July 30.
40. WhyDCSD | July 18, 2018 at 3:35 PM |

    Have all the principal positions been filled? If so, who are the new principals for the schools listed above?
41. DSW2Contributor | July 18, 2018 at 6:54 PM |

    WhyDCSD — Scuttlebutt says most of the vacancies have been filled, but it doesn’t know if the names have been shared with the public yet. It also says filling the vacancies listed above created even more vacancies that are not listed above; if the persons filling the Principal openings had been APs, now there are brand-new AP openings.
    Tomorrow (Thursday) is the close of the business week within DCSD, so perhaps Stan can request HR provide us with an updated list of vacancies as of tomorrow afternoon.
42. WhyDCSD | July 18, 2018 at 9:48 PM |

    DSW2Contributor, Thank you for the information. I hope Stan will provide an updated list from HR.
43. WantstoKnow | July 21, 2018 at 4:40 PM |

    Is there any information where we are able to see all district leaders with their respective position (including coordinators)? I recall there being a page on the DeKalb site; I assume that too was removed.